Skim the Clouds
by rhead-a-holyc
Summary: The tale of an old Quidditch boot.


**_A beautiful lofty thing, or a thing_**

**_Heroically lost, heroically found_**

\- **A Crazed Girl, by William Butler Yeats**

* * *

It seemed like and everlasting forever since the last time I had skimmed the tips of the damp clouds that floated gently in the sky, and much too long since I had even left the dusty confines of the floor near the back of my wearer's cupboard.

Being surrounded by dust, as I constantly was, made me feel like I was ancient, a far cry older than I could believe myself to be although, for all I knew, I could be. I hadn't seen the light of day nor felt the warmth of the sunshine and the icy coldness of being wet during the storm for some time. Those were only faint memories of a time _before_.

I had been thrown here after the last stormy match that had ended in our defeat, hitting the back of the cupboard roughly before landing on the ground with my sole exposed to whatever else would come after me. The mud and grass that I had worn at the end of that match still clung to me, restricting the amount I could move from my original position as the mud had hardened into a stiff skeleton around my body.

None of this discomfort had mattered before because I knew that soon enough I would be cleaned to perfection and worn, together with my exact twin, in an unparalleled pride to face the brilliant skies again. I knew that I would be able to slice through the clouds with practiced ease that came only with familiarity. I knew that I would be experiencing that absolute freedom at least one more time, and that was what made the dirt and tears worth it. It was the feeling of being far above what most others of my kind were ever able to dream of.

The normal ones found the mere idea of being thrown into the air only a few feet an exciting change and something to become excited about. I knew much more about _exciting_ than they did. Reaching the skies was exciting, not simply leaving the ground.

At least I used to. I still remember it, and that must be enough for now, or however long it took until I was dragged out from this dank spot I where I lay forgotten.

_Maybe forever._

That thought caused a sensation similar to the pain of being ripped apart except this wasn't physical, and that made it only worse as there was no way it could be fixed as easily as being sewn together. There wasn't anything to put together, with no visible scar of the hurt but that didn't mean that there weren't any.

I wasn't even sure where my twin had landed, only that it was nowhere near my current location. We had been tossed together but hadn't hit similar pieces of wall. I could only hope he was holding up fairly well, and not simply by dried and caking mud. We had been through everything together, but we couldn't be together when we probably needed each other most. It only added to the utter hopelessness of lying in the dark, covered by various pieces of clothing that only increased the feeling of being trapped that was completely and horribly different from what I was once accustomed to.

I was nursing the beginnings of doubt that I would ever experience that again. It had been too long, much too long since I had even felt a light breeze pass by me that didn't smell like old clothing and whatever else shared this space with me. Even the once crisp memories were becoming fuzzy and dream-like. The experiences felt like old dreams that had never truly happened and it was all simply my imagination.

The only reason I knew they did was the mud that still clung to me, but even that would be breaking into bits of sand soon leaving me alone and broken, something that had never happened before.

That was why we were always created in pairs: to never be alone, because our makers knew that eventually we would be tossed aside along with every other unwanted item and they wanted us to be less lonely during that time, except, they hadn't considered what always being together became when we were apart. They had forgotten about the possibility of loneliness without the other twin.

I was startled out of my thoughts by a rushed movement somewhere around me, moving me quickly backwards and forwards, side to side, everywhere and anywhere, until a warm hand, much larger and rougher than I remembered it to be, grabbed me by my shoelace, tugging me through the jungle of material and into the sunlight.

_Finally_.

Suddenly, a horrible thought filled me. What if I was going to be thrown away? What if my uselessness over however long I had been lying there had finally reached a point where I was just another waste of space?

I comforted myself with the thought that I would be seeing my twin at long last. I would be with him if we were thrown away, because what was the point of having one without the other?

I could feel the mud and sand being brushed off me. Wearers didn't do that to stuff they were going to throw away, did they? I could feel my tongue lolling around with every flick and brush of the hand.

My twin was lying on the bed, looking much cleaner than the last time I had seen him. My twin lying on the bed was a good sign, right? He would be on the floor if we were going to be thrown away.

What if our wearer was going to give us away? I doubted there was a better flier than our wearer, but perhaps flying at all would be better than some stinky old place…

Wait! I was being put down next to my twin, much cleaner than I had been in a while. Our laces tangled together worriedly as the long moments stretched mockingly around them.

My twin was lifted away from me again.

No! We had only spent mere moments lying next to each other!

I heard a sound I had heard so many times before only moments before I was picked up to join my twin on the floor. Within moments, my shoelaces were being tied in the intricate pattern they moulded into almost reflexively.

The twigs brushed me lightly, feeding my growing excitement with every snap and rustle.

I was going to fly again.

* * *

**AN: This one simply ****_has_**** to be dedicated to the rest of the amazing Arrows: Queen, Phoebe, Angel, Ela, Lizzie, Rrit, and Claudia. Adolf will still be watching you XD**

**Quidditch League FINALS! Appleby Arrows **

**Chaser 3: Write about ****an item of clothing for the bottom half of the body**

**Prompts: (word) ancient; (poem) A Crazed Girl by William Butler Yeats; (word) pain**

**I really hope you guys like the pun or two (I can't remember how many right now XD ). They were (siriusly) fun XP**


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